HONOLULU -- Tropical Storm Moke was swirling past Hawaii on Sunday, close enough to dump heavy rain on Big Island communities in the aftermath of Hurricane Lala.
The National Hurricane Center located Moke's center about 320 miles (515 kilometers) south-southwest of Hilo around midday. Top sustained winds were around 40 mph (65 kph), though the real impact was expected from rainfall in places where last weekend’s hurricane flooded communities, triggered mudslides and damaged roads and power lines. Two deaths linked to the hurricane have been reported in Hawaii.
Hawaii County Mayor Kimo Alameda advised residents in a social media post Sunday they “should stay off the roads and shelter in place” as a precaution. He said anyone in need could take refuge at shelters that the county had opened at several locations.
Forecasters expected Moke to produce as much as 10 inches (25 centimeters) of total rain across the Big Island, and up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) in some isolated places, enough to cause life-threatening flooding and mudslides for the windward and southeast slopes, especially in steep terrain and over areas affected by Lala. The center of the storm was expected to pass south of the Big Island, then south of the smaller main islands of Hawaii.
In eastern Maui, up to 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain was expected, and the other islands may get an inch or two (between 2.5 and 5 centimeters), according to the hurricane center.
As with Hurricane Lala, the Big Island was expected to bear the brunt of Moke's rain and winds as the storm moves westward, south of the island chain. After moving away from the islands, Lala was downgraded and remained a strong tropical storm on Sunday far out in the Central Pacific.
The northeast coast of the Big Island saw the heaviest total rainfall from Lala, at 43.54 inches (1.1 meters), according to the weather service.
Ahead of Moke's approach, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green urged people to prepare by restocking food, medicine and other essentials. More than 6,500 customers in the county remained without power Sunday stemming from Lala, according to poweroutage.us.
In the eastern Pacific, meanwhile, Tropical Storm Iselle formed earlier Sunday and was gaining strength, far away from Mexico's southwest coast.
Iselle had top sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph) on Sunday afternoon and was about 535 miles (860 kilometers) southwest of the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California peninsula. No coastal watches or warnings were in effect for Iselle as it moved to the northwest at 16 mph (26 kph).
The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Iselle could become a hurricane in another day or two and would kick up strong ocean swells on Baja's western coastline starting Monday.
